Introduction

Even though we’ll focus a lot on leading worship—everyone on
the team needs to hear what is being shared today.

1. Purpose Of The Home Care Group

Speaker: Denny

To care for one another.

To Develop personal relationships.

To worship.

To practice the gifts.

To receive teaching.

2. Organizational Structure Of Worship

Speaker: Denny

Home Group Elder

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Home Group Leader

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Home Group Worship Leader

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Home Group Musicians

3. Responsibilities

Speaker: Terry

Pastor:

Oversight.

Vision.

Home Group Leader:

Provide direction and ministry to those in need.

Train new leaders.

Home Group Worship Leader:

Support Home Group Leader.

Prepare worship for meetings.

Be teachable under Home Group Leader.

Purchase music, if required.

Home Group Musicians:

Support the Home Group Worship Leader.

Follow the Worship Leader.

Purchase music, if necessary.

The Home Group Worship Leader may know a lot more about worship
than the Home Group Leader—but submission to, and support of the
Home Group Leader is still required and necessary; even in the area of
worship.

4. Worship Leading Team Ministry

Speaker: Terry

How do they relate?

Team as opposed to individual ministry.

Role of Pastor:

Provides overall direction.

Role of Home Group Worship Leader:

To lead the others in the group, in worship.

Role of Home Group Musicians:

To follow the Home Group Worship Leader.

Role of the Chief Musician:

To support the Home Group Worship Leader.

Benefits of Team Approach:

Safety in numbers.

Better chance to hear the Holy Spirit’s voice.

Members of team rub on one another (see Purpose of Home
Group, above).

See “Symposium’84,” page 159.

5. What Is Praise And Worship

Speaker: Christopher [15 minutes]

It is not our intent to present a comprehensive definition of
praise and worship, in this section. LaMar Boschman takes over an hour
to develop this topic, and we’ve only a few minutes. If anyone is
not familiar with LaMar’s teaching on praise and worship we strongly
recommend that you borrow LaMar’s tapes from the New Wine Tape
Library. That said, it is our intent to quickly review the
fundamentals of praise and worship, and then to highlight a couple of
areas we believe are very important.

Let’s begin by stating that worship and praise are different; but
not unrelated. Many thousand of words have gone into expressing the
differences, but we will limit ourselves to looking at two verses of
scripture. Psalm 100:4a tells us to, “Enter His gates with
singing and his courts with praise.” Then, in Revelation 4:10–11,
John writes that the 24 Elders worshipped before the throne. I believe
that entering His courts with praise is a very different thing
compared to worshipping before the throne.

Scripture is very clear when describing how God wants us to praise
Him! Acts of praise consist of: singing, shouting, clapping hands,
lifting hands, dancing, standing, etc. Scripture also gives us
examples of these acts of praise: David dancing before the ark, Miriam
playing the tambourine, and the army of Israel lifting up a shout at
Jericho, to list a few.

As well, the Bible doesn’t tell us to praise when we feel
like it. God does not intend our praise to be based upon how we’re
feeling: our praise shouldn’t be an expression of emotionalism. At
the same time, God doesn’t mind when we put a little emotion into
our praise!

We are all familiar with God’s direction for praise, but I
don’t believe that we are as familiar with God’s instruction on
how to worship Him. Let’s look at some of the Greek and Hebrew words
translated as worship. A few examples are:

segad (h)

To bow down, do obeisance.

abad (h)

To do, serve.

shachah (h)

To bow self down. (Most of the Hebrew references to worship
are this word.)

doxa (g)

Glory, esteem.

proskun (g)

To kiss (the hand) toward. (Most of the Greek references to
worship are this word.)

sebomai (g)

To venerate, reckon venerable.

therapeuo (g)

To serve, cure, heal.

As we can see, worship’s emphasis is upon humbling oneself before
God, in veneration, and in service. The word obeisance is an
interesting one, it comes from a French word which means obey,
and its definition (according to “Webster’s New World
Dictionary”) is:

A gesture of respect or reverence, such as a bow, curtsy, etc.

The attitude shown by this; homage; deference.

Worship is an attitude of the heart more
than it is an outward show. As a side note, this knowledge that God
desires within us a certain attitude should help us in our
understanding of trials.

When King David was a boy, he spent many months alone in the hills
tending the family’s flocks of sheep. This time alone shaped him; it
moulded his heart into a shape which pleased God. David was ever in
awe and wonder of God, seeking to obey Him in every thought and deed.
However, David had a choice: he could have allowed the lonely days and
nights to build resentment and bitterness into his heart.

The trials which come our way shape us. As they do, we can choose
to come into greater reverence and awe of our Father God, or we can
become hurt and bitter. The choice is ours, however, “Blessed are
those who learn to acclaim You.” (Psalm 89:15)

So, worship is a life style! Romans 12:1–2 says,

“1Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of
God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and
pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship. 2Do
not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be
transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to
test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and
perfect will.” (NIV)

In doing what is holy and pleasing to God, we are worshipping Him!
This applies to every moment of our lives. Although anyone or anything
can praise God (Psalm 148:3–13), God seeks people who will
worship Him in Spirit and truth (John 4:23–24). He has given us
the will to choose to worship Him. Even when we are saved He doesn’t
impart into us a never fail attitude of worship; instead this
attitude develops in us as part of sanctification.

To state this idea another way. Praise is an act of our will. We
offer a sacrifice of praise, no matter how we feel, because God
commands it. But, worship is a response to God. He demands that we
have no other gods in our life, but the act of worship is left as a
response. I believe that we cannot truly worship God unless we first
know Him. I think that is part of what Jesus in saying in John 4:22–24.

22You Samaritans worship what you do not know; we
worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews. 23Yet
a time is coming and has now come when the true worshippers will
worship the Father in Spirit and truth, for they are the kind of
worshippers the Father seeks. 24God is Spirit, and His
worshippers must worship in Spirit and in truth.” (NIV)

Just what does all this have to do with us today? Well, one of the
primary criteria for leading worship is that you, yourself, be a
worshipper. For unless you are a worshipper, worshipping in Spirit and
truth, you will not be able to lead others in worship. Worship is a
response. Worship is lead by the Holy Spirit. It cannot be a
mechanical action, or your worship will be rejected by God.

“13The Lord says, ‘These people come near to me
with their mouth and honor me with their lips, but their hearts are
far from me. Their worship of me is made up only of rules taught by
men.’” Isaiah 29:13 (NIV)

But, we shouldn’t worry about God
rejecting our worship; for we can learn to be worshippers, and we can
always become better worshippers. As Psalm 89 tells us, we can
learn to acclaim God: We can learn to worship.

Implied in the statement, “Worship is a life style,” is the is
the answer to the question, “Where and when should we worship?”.
If worship is to be our life style then where is everywhere, and when
is always. If we allow Him, God will develop in us a desire to respond
to every and any situation with a reverent and humble heart. From our
lips will come praise for God, instead of complaints about our
situation.

Judah, means praise. Knowing this, I wonder if it
should be any surprise to us that the tribe of Judah (the tribe of
praise) accepted David as King seven and a half years before the rest
of Israel (2 Sam. 5:5)! Is it any wonder that as we look
back upon moves of God, many of them have been accompanied by an
outpouring of praise: Luther, Wesley, and the Charismatic Renewal
being to examples. Those who have allowed God to grow in them a heart
of flesh are the first to move with His Spirit.

In conclusion, let’s summarize What Is Praise And Worship
by stating three general definitions:

Thanksgiving

Thanks God for what He has done for me.

Praise

Praises the God who did those things for me.

Worship

Worship Him for who He is, not for what He has done, nor
because He has done things for us.

6. Purpose Of Praise And Worship

Speaker: Christopher [15 minutes]

Praise and worship are more than just pretty songs and dance.
Praise accomplishes things on at least three levels: horizontal,
vertical, and inward.

Horizontal

Praise serves to bind and unify us as a congregation.
Additionally, many of the songs we sing at the start of a
service are sung as much to one another, as to ourselves, or
God; we stir one another up and unite ourselves in thought and
purpose before the Lord.

Vertical

In this area, praise serves to make it easier for us to
express to God our appreciation of Him. As He takes us from one
situation to another, always showering us with His love and
grace, our feelings for Him build up and need to be expressed to
Him. God gathers us to Himself, so that we can know Him as I
am, face to face. Praise is a vehicle into His presence,
where we can worship Him, face to face.

Inward

Thanksgiving and praise work in us and help us to take every
thought captive, and bring our minds into submission to the
Lord (2 Cor. 10:5). When we arrive at the service and
begin to praise, we are always at least a little carnal. We need
to focus ourselves, and allow the praise to plough up the fallow
ground in our hearts (Hosea 10:11–12), that God’s word
might take root there.

What praise accomplishes is closely tied to God’s protocol
for entering into His presence; and we will consider this in the next
section.

Praise and worship are more than just the preliminary part of the
service or meeting. We don’t have some singing just to settle the
crowd! The time we spend in praise and worship of God prepares us
to receive His word. Both His word as taught to us by a teacher, and
His word spoken to our hearts by the Holy Spirit.

At the start of a service there is typically not a lot of prophecy,
etc. coming forth. This is not because God is unwilling to speak, but
that we’re not ready/prepared to listen. Once we’ve brought
ourselves into submission before God, as a body, we’re ready to
bring forth the word He places in our hearts. Within the assembly
there becomes an atmosphere conducive to the release of the gifts.

Without the praise and worship, nothing else in the service would
be the same. Even if we don’t sense anything happening while
we praise, it is still important to obey God, and offer our sacrifice
of praise to Him. Our focus during this part of the service should be
upon blessing God, not on getting blessed. God loves to pour His
blessings upon us, and He will. But we need to seek His face and bless
His Holy Name; without an expectation or motivation of personal
blessing.

Remember, God doesn’t need us to praise and worship Him. But we
need to praise and worship Him. God created us for His pleasure, and
so it is only right that we worship Him. Something happens within us
when we move into that place God created us for. Things start to
change inside, and we become the people God has called us and created
us to be. It is a blessing to worship God—even though that’s not
to be our focus.

As worship team members, our responsibility is to provide the best
possible environment for the congregation to praise God, and to enter
His throne room and stand before His face. We strive to praise God,
and to worship Him in a manner that encourages the congregation to
follow us; that all of our hearts may be ploughed up and
prepared; that all of our minds might be taken captive for the
Lord Jesus. We want everyone to have the best opportunity to become
all God would have them be.

7. Planning Praise And Worship

Speaker: Christopher [15 minutes]

I’m going to do this section in two parts: first an exhortation
regarding preparation and planning, and then a practical discussion on
planning a worship leading session.

In Support Of Planning

The Lord is a God of order. He acts in an orderly fashion, and asks
that we do the same. Paul gives specific direction for orderly worship
services in 1 Corinthians 14:26–39. Part of this order
involves preparation and planning. However, charismatics are notorious
for do everything by the Spirit; in other words, without any
advance planning. Let’s look briefly at a little of God’s order
for worship, and at King David’s planning for worship.

The book of Revelation shows us three distinct categories of
worshippers:

The worshipping elders, Revelation 4:8–10,

“8…the twenty-four elders fell down before the
Lamb. Each one had a harp and they were holding bowls full of
incense, which are the prayers of the saints. 9And
they sang a new song: ‘You are worthy to take the
scroll…’” (NIV)

The worshipping musicians, Revelation 14:3,

“3And they sang a new song before the throne and
before the four living creatures and before the elders…”
(NIV) and Revelation 15:2–3. “2And I saw
what looked like a sea of glass mixed with fire and, standing
beside the sea, those who had been victorious over the beast and
his image and over the number of his name. They held harps given
them by God 3and sang the song of Moses the servant
of God and the song of the lamb:…” (NIV)

The worshipping congregation, Revelation 5:11–13,

“11Then I looked and heard the voice of many
angels, numbering thousands upon thousands, and ten thousand
times ten thousand. They encircled the throne and the living
creatures and the elders. 12In a loud voice they
sang: ‘Worthy is the Lamb who was slain…’” (NIV)

John noticed distinct groupings of those who worship before the
throne. In a similar way, we put all the musicians together in a
group, we don’t scatter them throughout the congregation. In many
churches the elders sit together during the worship service. We
prepare for worship in the groups too. Sure, we have reasons
for making these groups—they make things more orderly—but the
point is that even in heaven God has put people together in groups,
for the purpose of worship.

The story of King David moving the Ark of the Covenant from
Abinadab’s house to the City of David is a familiar one: David’s
dancing before the Ark is especially memorable to us. There is,
however, a lesson for us there.

As you’ll recall, David failed in his first attempt to retrieve
the ark (I Chronicles 13). Specifically he failed to do
three things:

He didn’t divide the worshippers into the three categories.

He had not prepared a resting place for the Ark.

He had not prepared proper transportation for the Ark.

The result of David’s ignorance was
disaster, and a delay in the moving of the Ark.

Later David properly prepared for moving the Ark, and everything
went well. Specifically David did three things:

He prepared a resting place for the Ark, where
worshippers could come and minister continually to the Lord.

He arranged to properly transport the Ark on the shoulders of
the Levites.

He divided the worshippers into the three categories: the Elders
(I Chronicles 15:25), the Musicians (I Chronicles 15:16–22)
and the Congregation (I Chronicles 15:28).

With all that said, hopefully we are all better grounded in God’s
desire for planning and preparation. To quote David, “We did not
inquire of Him about how to do it in the prescribed way.” (I Chronicles 17:13b).
We need to inquire of God! Please note that I am not teaching against
spontaneity, or against moving with the flow of the Spirit!

I’m sure many of us have been part of groups where no preparation
was done: no prepared teachings, no prepared worship. I believe that
the people involved in those groups are sincerely seeking God, and His
will; and I believe God honours their efforts. Yet, I also believe
that Christians who don’t prepare miss out on some of the blessing
God has for them.

Preparing ahead of time gives God the opportunity to doubly
anoint our efforts:

We seek His anointing as we plan, prepare and practice for the
worship we will lead, or help lead.

We again seek God’s anointing when we actually stand up and
lead the worship.

This applies to all members of the worship team. Everyone,
from the sound technician to the worship leader can seek God’s
anointing upon their study and practice, as well as during the formal
worship time.

This preparation does not place us in bondage. Worshipping in
Spirit and truth means that God can and will speak to us as worship
progresses; and He may direct us in a different way than He did as we
prepared; but very often He does not.

Preparation, when done in prayer, seeking a revelation from God
about what to do, offers a way of safety when we lack direction, have
too much direction or are just plain confused about which way to go
next. We always have that earlier Word from God to use as a reference
point.

Leading the congregation in worship is like taking a group of
people on a journey up the mountain. Journey’s have final
destinations—and so should our worship. That destination may be high
praise, or intense worship before the throne, or even just
spending time in praise and celebration together as a body. It helps
to have an idea of where you’re headed.

It is difficult to lead a group if we try to navigate while reading
the map for the first time. It’s far easier if we’ve first become
familiar with the map, and the terrain, before we set out.

This familiarization involves:

Seeking God directly, ourselves, in prayer: seeking His will as
we plan worship, and shortly before we lead worship.

Talking to the leadership to find out what they’ve been
hearing from God. What are they going to teach? Where do they want
worship to end up? We need to submit to their direction, even if
it’s not where we would have headed if it was our decision. When
it’s our time to be in leadership, God will put us there.

Practicing with our tools (voices, instruments, songs) so that
we’re not reading the “How To…” book while navigating the
boat.

These things are all part of our planning
and preparation for leading praise and worship, and they apply to all
members of the worship team!

Practical Planning

God has a protocol for coming before Him. We find some of that
protocol in the Psalms:

Psalm 100:4

“4Enter into His gates with thanksgiving and His
courts with praise; give thanks to Him and praise His name.”
(NIV)

Psalm 96:8–9a

“8Ascribe to the Lord the glory due His name;
bring an offering and come into His courts. 9Worship
the Lord in the splendor of His holiness;” (NIV)

We are not going to take time to explore the many passages of
Scripture which deal with praise and worship. Rather I’d like to
draw our attention to one important point the above verses show us.

I believe that a key point in God’s protocol is, we go to Him:
God does not come to us so that we can worship Him. We enter into His
presence, into His courts, and come before His throne. Look again at
the two verses from the Psalms we read: we go to Him.

Generally, praise and worship begins with fast songs, and moves to
slower ones. It begins with expressions of praise and thanksgiving, of
exhortation and celebration. Once praise has properly ploughed our
hearts and we’ve submitted our minds to Christ, God sends His
manifest presence among us. We begin to respond to His presence and
His Spirit and to worship Him for who He is. He ushers us into His
presence.

I plan for a worship service by first praying and seeking the Lord.
Often I’ll have a time of worship, with my instrument. I’m seeking
a starting point, and direction, from God: has God been doing
something specific over the period of a few weeks? Do I have a
specific word or scripture? Is there a song that I’ve been unable to
shake? I use these kinds of indicators in choosing a beginning
point.

After having sought the Lord, I look through the song book. I look
for songs which jump out at me; which seem to have God’s
anointing on them. I’m not yet concerned with the key or tempo of
the music I’m selecting. I pay special attention to the songs which
go along with what I believe God is saying.

Once I’ve pulled some music I start to put things together. Often
by this point I have a beginning and ending I’d like to use. I start
with the first song and add additional songs by looking at theme, key,
and tempo of what I have pulled. If there isn’t anything appropriate
in the selection I have out, then I go through the book again.

At this point I begin to take an almost overwhelming number of
factors into consideration. Let’s briefly examine the following list
of concerns (this list is by no means exhaustive):

How well is a song known.

Introducing new music.

Key changes.

Tempo & rhythm of a song.

Length of worship time.

Transition difficulties.

Ruts we’re slipping into.

Theme & direction of worship.

Theme of songs.

Songs which are in season.

Planning for the spontaneous.

Song Familiarity

It is a good practice to ensure that most of the music you choose
is reasonably well known by the group you’re leading in worship. We
do want to regularly introduce new music. But we also want to be
careful when we use new music.

Generally it is best to start worship with a well know piece. It
makes it easier for the people to enter in to praise when they begin
from a familiar footing. It’s also good to use familiar songs when
the people have entered into worship—it is much easier to worship
when you know the song, and you can close your eyes and focus on the
Lord; rather than focusing upon singing the song.

Introducing New Music

The best place to teach a new song is at the beginning: just before
or after the first song. Be sure that you learn the song well before
you attempt to teach it. It you have a lot of instruments playing
along with you it will probably help to have most of them remain
silent the first couple of times through the song. If it has life,
then use the new song frequently until the people are comfortable with
it.

Regularly learning new music helps to keep us from falling into a
rut.

Musical Considerations

A songs can not be chosen solely for one of its musical merits.
That is, don’t choose a song just because it’s the right tempo, or
in the right key. Temp, key, rhythm (feel), and melody range are all
musical factors to be reckoned with.

We can modify some of those factors each time we use a song. For
example, a song need not always be sung in the same key. Here too we
must be careful. Radically altering a song’s musical attributes can
throw off the congregation.

Key changes can be used effectively in a couple of ways. Changing
keys can be used to build the momentum or intensity of a song. Or we
can use a key-changeable-song as a bridge between two songs which are
in otherwise incompatible keys.

Worship Length

A big factor in making my selections is the length of time allotted
to praise in the meeting or service. I allow at least five minutes per
song. I have to allow for singing the songs, spontaneous worship, and
manifestation of the gifts. If God is really moving and there are
words and lots of spontaneous worship, then ten minutes per song is
not an unreasonable amount of time to allow.

Song Transitions

The easiest place to get fouled up when planning worship is the
transitions between songs. If two songs are in radically different
keys, then you may not be able to move between them as you would like.
The best test of transitionability is simply to try it out. Tempo,
key, and theme are all important when planning a transition.

Also, a transition which works well when you’re worshipping by
yourself may not work well with a larger group. Experience will be
your best guide to planning transitions.

Seasons

Often a song will be anointed for a season. Week after week and
meeting after meeting, the song is full of joy, life, and blessing.
However, a short time later, that same song may fall flat on its face!
There is often no obvious reason for the change. However, when God is
moving through a particular song we need to recognize this fact and
move with Him.

Ruts

Ruts are those habits we fall into when we get comfortable and
lazy. Every group of people has its own set of ruts which tempt it,
and as worship leaders we must ensure that the groups within our
charge do not succumb to ruts. We’ll deal more specifically with
ruts in the next section.

Planning For The Spontaneous

Notice that I didn’t say, “planning the spontaneous.” When we
make our plans we need to make room for the spontaneous things God
will do. If we’ve planned for exactly two and a half minutes per
song then we’re going to blow it the first time someone delivers a
prophecy.

As I plan a worship, God often gives me a sense of where He’s
going to move. I don’t play for Sister Ruthanne to prophecy here,
and Brother Judah to pray there. Rather I allow time in my schedule
for the spontaneous, and then while I’m leading I watch to see what
God is doing…so I can move along with Him.

There is a lot to consider when planning worship. We can easily be
overwhelmed by it all and spend hours and hours planning for a twenty
minute praise session. Or we may react in an opposite manner and be so
intimidated that we don’t do any preparation at all for a 2 hour
city-wide worship meeting.

We need to find a balance. Preparing worship for a Sunday morning
takes me about three hours. I count on spending a whole evening
preparing. However, putting together twenty or thirty minutes of
praise for home group shouldn’t be a whole evenings work. It might
take us that long the first time we do it. But it’s probably still
over-preparing.

It is the Holy Spirit who is the real Worship Leader. You might say
we are simply acting as His agent. We can’t grunt up enough stuff to
make the meeting happen. We must seek God, hear Him, and act in
obedience.

8. Leading Praise And Worship

Speaker: Christopher & Terry [15 minutes]

The worship leader’s chief duty, and by extension the worship
team’s duty, is “to provide the best opportunity possible for
the people to worship.”5 In order to provide that
optimum environment for the congregation, we must be aware of what is
going on around us during worship. We can’t simply lose ourselves in
worship and bask before the throne. We don’t have that right. To
some extent our focus must be on the people, as well as on God.

Providing the best environment possible for the congregation means
that we, as worship leaders, can not totally abandon ourselves in
worship. Sure, we can have our moments of abandon, but unlike the
congregation, we must put our feet back on the ground with some
regularity. Otherwise we won’t be able to properly lead the people.

If we look back at the Old Testament priests, we see that they
spent quite a bit of time offering other people’s sacrifices to God
(Lev. 3). We don’t need anyone to offer a sacrifice of praise on our
behalf, but the worship team’s purpose is to facilitate the offering
of that sacrifice of praise: Facilitate, not mediate.

As a worship leader, we serve to provide a point of focus for the
worship time, and also to unite the musicians and congregation
rhythmically. There is a lot of responsibility riding upon our
shoulders, yet we shouldn’t be pulled down by it—we’re part of a
Team!

As a team member, we shouldn’t be afraid to consult with the
pastor, or other team members when discerning what the Spirit is
saying. But, as the team leader we must be confident to lead out
boldly in the direction God has shown us. Above all others, consult
with the Holy Spirit.

Boldly, with confidence, but not as a cheerleader. In general, God
is not asking us to whip His people into a frenzy of worship. Rather,
as inconspicuously as possible we should set out to lead the people in
praise. As they enter into the praise, the Holy Spirit will come lead
you and them all into the throne room. Whether or not we/they enter,
is up to the individual.

We should note here that it is the home group leader’s
prerogative to take the reigns, and then hand them back. He may
take the group in a direction you hadn’t planned. It’s his
prerogative. God has placed him in leadership of the group. It’s
important to remember that he’s not correcting you when he takes
over for a time. We are there to support him, not be in competition
with him.

Keep that list of songs you prepared close by. But don’t get
stuck in it. If God starts to minister healing to people, and you’ve
chosen nothing but ra-ra-praise songs then you had better get some
other songs out quick. Also, don’t throw away the list once
there’s been some deviation. I often come back to a list after
we’ve done a song or two that wasn’t on my list.

If you keep your eyes open part of the time, and look over the
congregation periodically, it will help keep you in touch with where
the people are at and where God is moving. As well, look to the home
group leader from time to time: making sure he can get your attention
if he needs it. Keeping the eyes closed all the time is probably the
most common mistake worship leaders make.

There is something which often happens that I want to be sure to
mention. I find that because God is directing the show, everyone works
together. As such, a sung prophecy may come for which negates the need
to sing a song from my list. For example, if the next song on my list
is “Come Holy Spirit’, but before I can lead it someone delivers a
sung prophecy/prayer which expresses the same thing the song was going
to, then I sometimes skip the song. Whether or not I skip the song is
quite subjective and is based on whether or not I feel that the people
have all made that singly expressed prayer their own.

9. The Unexpected Happens/Problems

Speaker: Christopher [10 minutes]

Everyone in leadership wants things to go smoothly. However, we all
know that from time to time things go awry. Let’s look at some
typical problems, and some possible solutions.

When God really shows up…

This is only a problem if you don’t know what God is trying to
accomplish. If you are at a loss for direction, then don’t hesitate
to admit it to your home group leader. I don’t recommend that you
have an open discussion with the home group. Just consult quietly with
the home group leader. If you’re both unsure, then wait upon the
Lord. On more that one Sunday, you’ve heard Denny say, “Let’s
wait on the Lord for a few minutes.”

When the people don’t enter in…

This is a symptom of a problem. It is not usually the problem
itself. Not entering in may be a symptom of:

You’ve run too far ahead of the people, in worship. This is a
common problem for new worship leaders. I recall leading once when
I had a glorious time of worship. When my list was finished Mike
Cook leaned over and said, “The Spirit hasn’t fallen
yet.” I was pretty surprised! You can help yourself in the
area by keeping your eyes open more.

Warfare needs to be done. Never do warfare without consulting
the home group leader first. You’ve been given a mandate to lead
worship, not warfare. Don’t stray from your sphere of authority
without permission.

The songs are too unfamiliar, and the people are having genuine
difficulty entering in. To bring everyone back on track together,
choose a song that you’re all very comfortable with, and begin
again.

When the leader sets a direction different than you expected…

Always strive to be flexible; roll with the punch, as it were. Your
reaction may be to want to dump the rest of worship into the
home group leader’s lap. Don’t do it. Seek the Lord and ask Him to
bring your vision in line with the home group leaders. Don’t
hesitate to ask the leader for further clarification on direction, if
you’re unclear (private consultation).

When technical difficulties arise…

Don’t let circumstances frazzle you. Just fix it and go on. Even
if you can’t solve the problem, no matter what the problem, worship
can always continue in one form or another. If your instrument breaks,
go on without it. If you forgot your music at home, then use songs you
know well; and only use your instrument if you feel confident to play
without the music. If you start to lose your voice, get one of the
strong voices in the group to stand beside you and let his/her voice
be yours.

When people start crying…

This is really just an indicator of the presence of the Holy Spirit
moving on people. Consult with the home group leader.

When musicians didn’t follow you…

Depending upon where you are in the worship time, you may want to
stop and restart the song, hold your position and wait for them to
catch up, or just keep on going.

When musicians overtake the leadership…

This too will happen quite by accident from time to time. Just
treat it like a missed transition. However, if one or more of the
musicians deliberately rebelled, then you should talk with the
home group leader and then the musicians after the meeting. At the
moment it happens you’ll just have to make the best of it: you may
have to follow them for a verse or two until you can change the
direction again. Until you’ve spoken with them, believe the best of
them—that it was an accident!

When there are too many instruments…

Within the home group, we always try to accommodate all the
instruments people are willing to bring and play. But, if you do have
more people than you can handle something will have to be worked out.
Maybe the musicians can be broken into teams who play alternate weeks.
Or if it is only specific songs which are giving you trouble, then for
those songs have only specific instruments play. Work with the home
group leader and musicians together.

When there aren’t enough instruments…

In the absence of instruments, worship can still be joyful,
anointed and alive. Choose songs that have a strong, regular beat and
that are easy to sing. Be bold in singing out—even during the song
of the Lord. If we as worship leaders are timid, then the people will
probably be timid as well.

When your list is done but worship isn’t…

Sometimes worship goes longer that we expect. In that situation
we’ll probably feel pressured to have another song ready, pronto.
It’s quite alright to re-use a song that was anointed earlier during
the worship time. Re-using a song can be an effective way to continue
to worship while giving you a chance to gather yourself and decide
what you need to do next.

When you arrive for worship “uptight”…

Even when we’re properly prepared, and prayed up, things can
happen on the way to the meeting that cause us to lose our composure.
It is usually friction with other people that is the cause. A lot of
tension can be avoided by allowing yourself extra time to get to the
meeting. Then when you get caught in grid lock you can still be
on-time.

Traveling to the meeting with someone else can also result in
tension. Jean and I had a little trouble in this area until we agreed
not to use the time traveling together to bring up issues.

10. Prerequisites For Ongoing Platform Ministry

Everyone involved in the production of the worship is part of the
worship team. Sound technicians, banner bearers, musicians, everyone.

Christ tells us to lead by serving. We are on the platform to serve
God’s people, not to serve ourselves. Service involves sacrifice and
discipline.

Notice the order of gifting!! Worshipper, servant team
member, musician/ technician.

We strongly recommend that anyone involved in worship read all of
the books on the reading list. eg. Even sound technicians should
endeavor to read the books on dance.

The cost of commitment is high!

Workshops

Put together a worship list that technically flows together. (Terry)

10 minutes to prepare—10 minutes to present. Hand out the New
Wine Songbook index to work from. Have participants comment on why
they picked the songs in the list.

Put together a worship list as a team of 3 people. (Terry)

10 minutes to prepare—10 minutes to present. Work in pairs or
three’s with shortest person as leader. List of eight songs.

Decoding sheet music. (Christopher)

See below for workshop content.

Decoding Sheet Music

Demo “Worship The King”, playing all the chords.

What we’re trying to accomplish is a simplification of the
existing arrangement—not create a new arrangement. We want to make
the song easier to play, without making it too bland. Just how simple
it needs to be depends upon the expertise of the musician.

I look at four items when looking for chord elimination clues:

What key is the song in.

The duration of the chords.

What the chords are in relation to one another.

What the left hand of the pianist is doing.

However, in the end I finalize my judgment
with my ear.

This workshop is discussed from a guitarist’s perspective! I make
no apologies for that fact.

In general, you don’t want to play a different chord on every
beat of the bar. That is, you want to hold each chord for more that a
single strum. For example the D/G chord in the first bar of the
song has a 1/4 note duration. Plus the pianists
left hand is playing the same notes for the G’s as for the D/G.
Thus is it a good candidate for elimination.

On the second line of the second page. There are strange E2sus
chords surrounded by regular Em chords. Thus the funny E
chords are likely ones to eliminate.

On the third line of the second page. The D/C chord at the
end of the line is held for half a bar: that’s two strums, or a
half-note. It is probably a good idea to hang on to that chord.

The above kinds of techniques are what I use to simplify a song
When I’m playing with other musicians, my simplification may no
longer work. My simplifications may clash with what is actually
written. The burden is then on me to alter my simplification; assuming
the other musicians are playing what is written.